Todd McFarlane Is Giving You a Spawn Movie Reboot Whether You Like It or Not

For a guy that looks like a clear rip-off of Batman and Spider-Man, Spawn has some convoluted backstory. And in the decades since the character first appeared in the original launch of Image Comics, his mythos have only grown more overwrought, with each addition including ever more players in a war between Heaven and Hell.

It may not (yet) involve cyborg gorillas like Cy-Gor or any number of angels and demons who trouble the late Al Simmons, but the saga of a Spawn reboot on the big screen has similarly had a myriad of twists and turns. In 2019, Spawn creator and action figure magnate Todd McFarlane announced a deal with Blumhouse, masters of the B-movie hit. As previously reported here at Den of Geek, Blumhouse gave McFarlane the means to make the superhero movie of his dreams: a “dark, ugly two hours worth of movie” with “no joy.”

Strangely, this pitch did not leave folks demanding for Spawn to mope his way to theaters, and the movie has remained stalled in pre-productio, despite securing the involvement of Jamie Foxx and Jeremy Renner at various points. However, McFarlane promises that a Spawn movie will happen, sooner rather than later.

Speaking to ComicBook.com, McFarlane declared, “Either I’m gonna give Hollywood the best chance to do it and, if not, I’ve got plenty of outside investors waiting.” Calling 2024 his “make or break year,” McFarlane indicated that he has grown tired of waiting and will do what it takes to realize a new Spawn film. “So I’m trying to see if we can make the right deal within the norm of the Hollywood structure. If not, there have been plenty of examples, actually, a couple big ones last year, where people went outside the normal channels and succeeded.”

In particular, McFarlane likes the idea of following the tried and true indie model, in which one finances a movie themselves and then finds a distributor to release the finished product. “That one, I could do in a heartbeat,” he insisted.

For some, such confidence might appear unfounded. But Spawn remains one of the most popular independent comic book characters of all time. His stories have been a mainstay on shelves since Spawn #1 debuted in 1992. Furthermore, the previous Spawn film from 1997 still has its fans, despite obvious drawbacks like its laughable CGI and an irritating performance from John Leguizamo as Clown.

If anything, the shortcomings in the first movie have only increased the demand for an updated Spawn redo, one that can streamline the character’s labyrinthine mythology and bring to live-action the twisted hellscapes that McFarlane and his collaborators designed for the comics. And while McFarlane’s promise of a joyless movie might have seemed like a terrible idea at the height of the quip-heavy MCU’s domination, it might be just what people want to see in this time of superhero fatigue.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether or not anyone thinks they want a new Spawn movie. It’s going to get produced because McFarlane wants it to get produced. “Something’s gonna happen because if I can’t figure it out inside, I’ll figure it out outside,” he promised. “I just know myself.” That’s always been McFarlane’s story and, unlike the one belonging to his most famous character, it’s a pretty simple one.